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LA Tenorio's team paints the town red at end of Colgate Fresh Hoops Streetball final

LA Tenorio's Red Team celebrates after the win over Jimmy Alapag's Blue side during the Colgate Fresh Hoops Streetball final. Czeasar Dancel

LA Tenorio’s Red Team escaped with a come-from-behind 102-94 victory over Jimmy Alapag’s Blue Team in the culminating game of the Colgate Fresh Hoops Streetball at the Gatorade Hoops Center last Saturday in Mandaluyong City.

The Red Team trailed for most of the title match after Blue posted several double-digit margins before going on a 19-5 run in the last quarter.

Carlou Lloren, an incoming freshman at Olivares College, was named MVP of the game after scoring all his 15 points in the second-half comeback.

“Ang sarap ng pakiramdam, feeling ko professional na ako,” said the 17-year old center from Makati who was instrumental in the Red’s 11-0 run midway through the final period.

The two sides were composed of players selected in a three-month nationwide streetball clinic and competition. The game also featured the players from HYPE Streetballers, a group dedicated to promoting streetballer culture in the Philippines, who impressed the audience with their fancy freestyle skills.

Jimmy Alapag eggs on his team from the sidelines

The first half saw a lot of freestyleplays and showboating but things became serious in the fourth quarter. Aside from bragging rights, the winning team got to take home P180,000 worth of prizes and scholarships.

Celebrity endorser Billy Crawford performed a very energetic dance number for the fans during halftime.

After the game, the public later had a chance for a meet-and-greet with the PBA stars.

“I’m really thankful for Colgate for putting something like this together. It’s a chance for kids who may not have opportunities to go to college to really showcase their talent. To have LA and I both here to help them to do just that in a great environment, we had a really great time,” said the recently retired Alapag, who was pretty animated on the sideline.

“I’ll always miss playing. It’s been four-and-a-half months since I’ve retired and the fire to compete will always be there," Alapag added.